A 56-year-old man died in a two-alarm house fire at 2431 Oregon St. early Tuesday morning, according to authorities.
Andrew Goodwin, 56, was found in his apartment on the third floor of a house that was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, according to Berkeley Fire Department Deputy Chief Avery Webb. Goodwin was transported to Alta Bates Hospital where he died, according to the Alameda County coroner’s office. The seven other occupants of the apartment building escaped unharmed.
The report of the fire came into the fire department at 1:38 a.m., said Webb. Firefighters arrived and saw that the top of the house, which had been converted into apartments, was fully engulfed in flames. Berkeley police arrived on the scene at the same time and helped wake up residents and escort them to safety, said Webb. When residents told officials one man was unaccounted for, firefighters went to the top floor where they found Goodwin, said Webb.
KTVU and the San Francisco Chronicle are reporting that Goodwin was a professor at University of San Francisco. A profile of Goodwin on the university’s website says that he was a professor of media studies who had published Dancing in the Distraction Factory. Music Television and Popular Culture and was working on a book on Led Zeppelin.
Officials from the fire department and the coroner’s office are at the scene, which is just east of Telegraph Avenue) and are investigating the cause of the fire, said Webb.
Fred Fischer, who lives on Oregon Street, shot this video of the fire:
Related:
Berkeley fire crew rescues person from home fire on Ward St. (08.30.13)
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